Species identification of Middle Eastern blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) of forensic importance.

The lack of reliable tools for species identification of necrophagous blowflies of the Middle East is a serious obstacle to the development of forensic entomology in the majority of countries of this region. Adding to the complexity of diagnosing the regional fauna is that species representing three different zoogeographical elements exist in sympatry. In response to this situation, a high-quality key to the adults of all species of forensically relevant blowflies of the Middle East has been prepared. Thanks to the modern technique of image-stack stereomicroscopy and high-quality entomological materials, this new key can be easily applied by investigators inexperienced in the taxonomy of blowflies. The major technical problems relating to the species identification of necrophagous blowflies of the Middle East are also discussed

Water quality assessment in inlet and outlet channels of shrimp farms in Tiab Area, Hormozgan Province

The shrimp farming industry has rapidly expanded in the south of Iran and in particular in the Hormozgan province during the past decade. We studied physico-chemical parameters of water in outlet and inlet channels of shrimp farms in Tiab during July-December 2000. Water samples were collected monthly at four stations during the harvest period. The parameters assessed included pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, phosphate, total phosphate, total suspended solids and chlorophyll a. The variation of above parameters were determined to be 7.62 - 8.19, 42.75 - 52.55ppt, 2.8 - 8.3mgil, 4.46 -0.66p,mil, 0.214 .64141, 0.12-2.0711m/1, 0.13-16.1 tili/1, 0.59-10.5 µm/l, 22-121 mg/1and 0.43-5.1311m/1 respectively. Results of the analyses showed that salinity, dissolved nutrient, T.S.S and chlorophyll a in the effluent were significantly higher than the influent water (P<0.05). A significant correlation was also found between chlorophyll a and nitrate, phosphate and suspended solid concentration (P<0.05). Comparison of the results with the standards showed that parameters are currently within acceptable limits

Environmental effects of shrimp culture on Tiab Creek, Hormozgan Province, south Iran

Shrimp fanning industry has rapidly expanded in the south of Iran especially in Hormozgan Province over the past decade. In 2001, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, total inorganic nitrate, reactive phosphate and total phosphate were assessed monthly in Tiab creek to evaluate the environmental effects of the industry. During the study period, nitrate varied between 4.06-23.58pm/1 where as variation for nitrite was measured as 0.21-2.23ml/l. Variation for ammonia was 0.07-2.04m/1, for total inorganic nitrate was 4.46-25.131.ml/l and for reactive phosphate and total phosphate were 0.114-2.35ml/l and 1.3-22.731ml/l respectively. Results of this study showed that concentration of nutrients in the outlet effluents and creek mouth were higher than other stations. Also, comparison of concentration of nutrients between stations showed that there were significant differences between effluent water and other stations (P<0.05)

A combined theoretical and experimental study of the low temperature properties of BaZrO3

Low temperature properties of BaZrO3 are revealed by combining experimental techniques (X-ray diffraction, neutron scattering and dielectric measurements) with theoretical first-principles-based methods (total energy and linear response calculations within density functional theory, and effective Hamiltonian approaches incorporating/neglecting zero-point phonon vibrations). Unlike most of the perovskite systems, BaZrO3 does not undergo any (long-range-order) structural phase transition and thus remains cubic and paraelectric down to 2 K, even when neglecting zero-point phonon vibrations. On the other hand, these latter pure quantum effects lead to a negligible thermal dependency of the cubic lattice parameter below ~ 40 K. They also affect the dielectricity of BaZrO3 by inducing an overall saturation of the real part of the dielectric response, for temperatures below ~ 40 K. Two fine structures in the real part, as well as in the imaginary part, of dielectric response are further observed around 50-65 K and 15 K, respectively. Microscopic origins (e.g., unavoidable defects and oxygen octahedra rotation occurring at a local scale) of such anomalies are suggested. Finally, possible reasons for the facts that some of these dielectric anomalies have not been previously reported in the better studied KTaO3 and SrTiO3 incipient ferroelectrics are also discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Fractionation of Asphaltenes in Understanding Their Role in Petroleum Emulsion Stability and Fouling

SARA fractionation separates crude oil into fractions of saturates (S), aromatics (A), resins (R), and asphaltenes (A) based on the differences in their polarizability and polarity. Defined as a solubility class, asphaltenes are normally considered as a nuisance in the petroleum industry mainly as a result of their problematic precipitation and adsorption at oil–water and oil–solid interfaces. Because a broad range of molecules fall within the group of asphaltenes with distinct sizes and structures, considering the asphaltenes as a whole was noted to limit the deep understanding of governing mechanisms in asphaltene-induced problems. Extended-SARA (E-SARA) is proposed as a concept of asphaltene fractionation according to their interfacial activities and adsorption characteristics, providing critical information to correlate specific functional groups with certain characteristics of asphaltene aggregation, precipitation, and adsorption. Such knowledge is essential to addressing asphaltene-related problems by targeting specific subfractions of asphaltenes

Large scale localization of protein phosphorylation by use of electron capture dissociation mass spectrometry.

We used on-line electron capture dissociation (ECD) for the large scale identification and localization of sites of phosphorylation. Each FT-ICR ECD event was paired with a linear ion trap collision-induced dissociation (CID) event, allowing a direct comparison of the relative merits of ECD and CID for phosphopeptide identification and site localization. Linear ion trap CID was shown to be most efficient for phosphopeptide identification, whereas FT-ICR ECD was superior for localization of sites of phosphorylation. The combination of confident CID and ECD identification and confident CID and ECD localization is particularly valuable in cases where a phosphopeptide is identified just once within a phosphoproteomics experiment

The deleted in brachydactyly B domain of ROR2 is required for receptor activation by recruitment of Src

The transmembrane receptor 'ROR2' resembles members of the receptor tyrosine kinase family of signalling receptors in sequence but its' signal transduction mechanisms remain enigmatic. This problem has particular importance because mutations in ROR2 are associated with two human skeletal dysmorphology syndromes, recessive Robinow Syndrome (RS) and dominant acting Brachydactyly type B (BDB). Here we show, using a constitutive dimerisation approach, that ROR2 exhibits dimerisation-induced tyrosine kinase activity and the ROR2 C-terminal domain, which is deleted in BDB, is required for recruitment and activation of the non-receptor tyrosine kinase Src. Native ROR2 phosphorylation is induced by the ligand Wnt5a and is blocked by pharmacological inhibition of Src kinase activity. Eight sites of Src-mediated ROR2 phosphorylation have been identified by mass spectrometry. Activation via tyrosine phosphorylation of ROR2 receptor leads to its internalisation into Rab5 positive endosomes. These findings show that BDB mutant receptors are defective in kinase activation as a result of failure to recruit Src

A survey of algal bloom impacts on abundance and distribution of macro benthos in Hormozgan province coastal waters

The investigation of the algal bloom effects on Macro benthos abundance and diversity was seasonally carried out in coastline waters of Hormozgan province in 1391. Fourteen stations were selected for sampling; as 8 stations in coast of Bandar Abbas, 3 in Jask Port (east of Hormozgan) and 3 stations in Lengeh Port (west of Hormozgan). Polychaets, oligochaets, mollusks, crustacean and others like nematodes, nemertean’s, foraminifera’s, and ophiuroides were identified. Crustacean with 333950 ind.^-2 were dominant group whereas nemertean with 5050 ind.^-2 were minimum in density. Results showed that mean abundance of macro benthos was at most in spring (5614±3992 end) ^-2 and with 1244±380 ind.-2 was at least in autumn. Related results to stations showed that mean abundance in Jask Port and Lengeh Port were more than Bandar Abbas City. Among 8 stations in Bandar Abbas, Langargah with 168±977 ind.^ -2 was at most and Posht-e- shahr was at least in abundance (82±256 ind. ^-2). In Lengeh and Jask ports the stations far from coasts showed more abundance than station near coast. Monthly investigation showed that Macro benthos community was much more in April with 1011±6783 ind.-2 than December with 6±28 ind.^-2 , respectively. Shannon -Winner diversity index was low (0.61.2) in three stations, Evenness ranged from 0.1 to 0.4 and Margalof ranged from 2 to 4. Among four stations, mean wet weight varied from 12.18±6/95 gr in Jask Port (maximum) to 6.24±3/85gr in Bandar Abbas (minimum) .Seasonally, in spring the wet weight of macro benthos was 15.15±16/32 (maximum) and with 1.43±0.88 gr showed the minimum value in summer. There was a negative correlation between silt and macro benthos abundance and a positive correlation existed between macro benthos community and sand. There was no significant correlation between macro benthos community and TOM. To pay attention to results like diversity, abundance, wet biomass and correlation; it seems that algal bloom has no obvious negative effect on Macro benthos communities

Determination of effective parameters on growth and bloom forming of Cochlodinium polykrikoides

Harmful algal blooms resulting in red discoloration of coastal waters in the Persian Gulf, Iran were first observed in January 2007. The species responsible for the bloom, which was identified as Cochlodinium polykrikoides, coincided with massive aquatic organisms’ mortalities in the Persian Gulf. In order to provide optimum growth and bloom forming, C. polykrikoides cells were sampled during the bloom conditions in the coastal waters of Persian Gulf. After adaptation in filtered seawater, they isolated by positive phototropism characteristic of this species to light. They were grown in modified media culture at different salinity (30, 32 and 35ppt), temperature (20, 23, 26 and 28ºC) and intensity (35, 70 and 90 µmol m^-2 s^-1) with an initial cell density of 50 cell mL^−1. The results of the present study clearly showed that the highest alga biomass was obtained following culture by using A^2 medium under the 32ppt salinity, 26°C temperature, and under a 11h light:13h dark photoperiod regime at a light intensity of 90 µmol m^-2 s^-1 provided by cool white fluorescent tubes. Mean cell density of C. polykrikoides in a 60 liter tank for ten days reached to 32 × 10^6 cell L^−1. Moreover, individual C. polykrikoides chain with 18 cells was observed for the first time in cultures. Based on the results from the present study, as mentioned above, providing suitable media culture and physical condition (light intensity and temperature), bloom forming of C. polykrikoides start from day 8 to 10 and will be continued until day 24 t0 28. In the other hand, C. polykrikoide cells immediately crashed and destroyed

Muslim active citizenship in Australia: Socioeconomic challenges and the emergence of a Muslim elite

The most recent national Census demonstrated that Australian Muslims continue to occupy a socioeconomically disadvantaged position. On key indicators of unemployment rate, income, type of occupation and home ownership, Muslims consistently under-perform the national average. This pattern is evident in the last three Census data (2001, 2006 and 2011). Limited access to resources and a sense of marginalisation challenge full engagement with society and the natural growth of emotional affiliation with Australia. Muslim active citizenship is hampered by socioeconomic barriers. At the same time, an increasingly proactive class of educated Muslim elite has emerged to claim a voice for Muslims in Australia and promote citizenship rights and responsibilities. <br /